“Carefulness costs you nothing,” and I wouldn’t have agreed less. This guild will provide you with an amazing free online hunter safety course list that will help you to make sure you and those around you are safe from your own gunshot.
Boom! That was the sound of the gun at Minnesota by 7 pm, when a hunter mistakenly shot another hunter hunting a deer. The deceased, Lucas Dudley was mistakenly shot by Rain Stately.
Rain Stately assumed that the footsteps he heard were a deer, and had to fire a round from his rifle. But unfortunately, these footsteps were made by a human who was not wearing a strong visible cloth nor a typical blaze orange.
That’s how someone was just shot due to a mistake. I’m not here to lay blame, but to encourage you to make sure you take the hunter safety course seriously.
The good news is, that a free online hunter safety course has helped to reduce hunting accidents. According to NRA Hunter Education “Since the start of formal hunter education, hunting accidents have dropped by 86%.”
So you see, taking a safety course, in any profession, is very paramount, whether it’s a food safety course, an engineering safety course, or a first aid course. Because, without them, they or even those around can get seriously injured and in worst cases, death.
Most importantly, when you’re given a firearm, you more than need a simple safety guide.
Hunting has always been how humans survived back millions of years ago when people lived a nomadic lifestyle. They first started by eating animals that just died, and they progressed in search of prey.
They had to force themselves to create incompletely developed weapons and they created hunting techniques to get bigger animals. As for Americans, hunting is more like fun.
Those that get a big deer have this sense of accomplishment that they have achieved something big. Hunting is something that requires patience and accuracy.
Oh yes, you need to be patient to wait for that deer, you need to make sure when the bullet goes out of the muzzle it hits the right target, or at least close to the target. Most importantly not to hit the wrong target, especially, a human.
To succeed in any hunting is not easy, but, when done right, it calls for a strong sense of accomplishment. Hunting is not something we need to do to survive, just like it was back in millions of years.
Hunting might look like one piece-of-cake act of just “aiming” and “shooting” if you’ve never hunted before, but the reverse is the case. This free online hunter safety course will enable you to grab some knowledge about hunting.
Free online courses have proven over and over to be a go-to place for students who, either don’t have the money to pay for a professional online course. Or wants to see if the course is a right fit for them.
Either way, a free online hunter safety course is a good place to start. Let’s begin by giving you some importance of hunter safety.
Why is hunter safety important?
Carrying a rifle comes with great responsibilities, especially in your community. Your community will trust you the most, knowing that you won’t mistakenly shoot one of their kids or them.
You’ll learn to be responsible, especially adhering to hunting laws and regulations.
A free online hunter safety course will teach you how to safely handle, clean, store, and shoot different kinds of hunting firearms and crossbows.
You’ll also learn some survival skills and how to use first-aid.
Requirements to take hunter safety courses online
Of course, if you need to take a free online hunter safety course you need to practice what you see. So as you go hunting make sure to apply these requirements.
State Regulation
Every state has its own regulation before you can learn or go out to hunt, make sure you go through them.
Guardian
If you’re a child of 16 years and below, you need to practice hunting with someone older than you that already has a hunting license (very important), not to break any state hunting law.
Visible Cloth
Make sure to wear blaze orange clothing to be easily spotted by other hunters. This is an important safety precaution, and that’s why 45 out of 50 states made it compulsory, and those that didn’t advise hunters to wear it.
Strong Cloth
You also need to put on a cloth that can resist cold temperatures, insect bites, and also any poisonous plant while taking this free online hunter safety course.
Don’t Shoot Yet
If you’re alone, don’t be in a hurry to shoot, maybe because of a sound or a movement. Make sure you target the right prey before releasing the trigger, if possible go with a professional.
You Might Be Alone
Don’t assume you’re the only one in the wild, so don’t nervously shoot.
Don’t Drink
This is very important, you shouldn’t drink any alcohol. We all have seen the consequence of alcohol to people on the road, in the vehicle.
You don’t want to be that guy that will miss a target because you were drunk. This free online hunter safety course will advise you more.
Be careful of Colour While Hunting Turkeys
Don’t wear colors like red, white, blue, and black while you hunt a turkey. Because it is the color of a displaying gobbler. And, don’t make the gobbler sound while hunting, which might attract another hunter to your area.
Free Online Hunter Safety Course
Here is the list of the free online hunter safety course
- NRA Hunter Education
- BesafeHunter
- Hunter Safety Course – Rusty McCollum
- Archery and Hunting – Retired Rambler
- Hunter Education – Texas Park and Wildlife
- The Basics of Gun Handling | Shooting Tips from Sig Sauer Academy
1. NRA Hunter Education
This free online hunter safety course was developed by NRA (National Rifle Association) Explore, a group that advocates the right to shoot rifles on a scientific basis. It was established as far as 1871 and has been the frontier to teaching firearms to people from 9 years and above, in the world.
NRA also went further to form a legislative action in 1975 to politically defend the second amendment rights. Further, it has had approximately 5 million members who have tirelessly carried out the NRAs vision.
NRA Hunter Education starts by welcoming you to the course, where your instructor, Ted, will tell you the importance of furthering this course and how it will protect you and your family. You’ll also be introduced to Liz (Ted’s Hunting Partner) and Ranger (Their dog).
In this free online hunter safety course, Ted will also let you know about the shields you’ll earn during the course, which represent important safety skills. And, for you to earn any shield, you must qualify from skill-building activities, your knowledge will be tested, and you’ll be given a safety challenge.
There are 4 modules here, which also lies the 4 shields you’ll get. The first module starts with the basics of Firearms, where you’ll be learning how rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders, pistols, bows, and crossbows work.
Module 2 goes further to teach you how to handle firearms, how ammunition works, and how to clean store, and transport firearms. Module 3 will be generous to teach you field safety.
You’ll learn the fact that to save yourself and others while hunting starts with a proper mindset. So this free online hunter safety course won’t only teach you the skill to be safe on the field, but you’ll also learn to mentally shoot safely.
Finally, module 4 will open you to some of the ethics hunters must have, which will make you a responsible and trustworthy hunter.
When you’ve earned all your shields and have completed any content from your state, then you’ll be ready to take your final ultimate assessment. Which will prove to the world that you’re ready to become a successful hunter without injuring anyone.
When you pass your final assessment, you’ll be given a ticket to apply for a hunter’s license.
This free online hunter safety course doesn’t require a dime, and you’ll need to register to have access to the course.
2. BesafeHunter
This is a free online hunter safety course that has been teaching safety courses for 15 years. The course is very simple to follow and has met the safety standards set by the Department of Natural Resources and IHEA (International Hunter Education Association).
BesafeHunter created this course to be user-friendly to mobile users and can be taken at your own speed. You can choose not to hurry over it, or rapidly conclude it in one sitting, all your choice, they will also keep track of your achievements.
Their live support is there to help you with any question that you might encounter along the way of your free online hunter safety course.
After the course, your knowledge will be tested, and you’ll need an 80% pass mark to qualify for the certificate which requires $28.50 to get. The good news is, that if you get the certificate from your resident state, you can use it in any state in the United States.
Peradventure, if you don’t pass the quiz, you will need to re-study that particular module before writing the assessment again.
You have to register to participate in this course, once you’ve registered you’ll be welcomed by Dylan, your hunting safety instructor. This free online hunter safety course is divided into 9 chapters, after each chapter comes to a 10 question quiz.
After the 9 chapters and quizzes come the final exam which will require a 76% pass mark which gives you access to your printable certificate. Before you can proceed from the introduction to the first chapter, BesafeHunter will require you to validate the state regulations where you’ll be hunting.
For instance, if you’ll be hunting from Georgia, you’ll need to get a “Go Outdoor Georgia Customer ID,” to fully register and get your certificate in this course. Once you get it, you can return to the course and continue with the first chapter.
But, you can bypass this procedure by clicking the check sign (when it is green) at the bottom of the requirements page.
The first chapter starts by introducing you to how to properly care for your game meat, “the hunter, not the cook, is responsible for how the meat tastes.” You don’t want a situation where the animal you caught spoils before you got home or you cooked it.
So this free online hunter safety course will teach you, in the first topic of the first section the
- The major cause of meat spoilage
- The basic equipment for big game
- The basic equipment for game bird
- Sources for the supplies
- The most important tool
- How to approach a downed animal
- How to humanely dispatch a wounded animal.
As the course progresses in this chapter one, this free online hunter safety course will elaborate more on the topics listed above. Along the course, you’ll need to add your name and surname to save your progress so far.
In chapter 2, you’ll be learning all about wildlife, chapter 3 will teach you survival & First Aid and chapter 4 will focus on Firearms. Chapter 5 will go further to teach you about Bow Hunting & Muzzleloading while chapter 6 will teach you about hunting responsibilities.
Chapter 7 will speak on Tree Stands, chapter 8 on Transportation. Finally, chapter 9 on Additional Concerns, which an exam will come after it.
You can ignore the payment request on the homepage of the website. Just “take the course and register.”
3. Hunter Safety Course – Rusty McCollum
This is a free online hunter safety course that focuses on setting traps for your prey. It starts with “dog proof traps,” where you’ll learn to give the trap environment an eye appeal to attract the prey.
Tom Florin, your instructor will show you the best kind of gloves to wear while making this kind of trap, and the best trap for dog proof.
“Dog proof” here, doesn’t mean traps for dogs, it’s the name of a trap.
You’ll also learn how to set a leg trap, how to use snares as bait to trap bigger animals, how to trap conibears and more.
4. Archery and Hunting – Retired Rambler
This is a free online hunter safety course that your instructor will be taking you, live, in almost all he does. The first video is where he shows you how he is practicing with his bow (Bear Super Kodiak) after some days of absence from shooting.
And he’s even using his home to practice. In his next video, he took it further to enter the wild to practice on a 3D deer.
In fact, he promised to sponsor those from Wisconsin to join the club, especially if you are archery.
5. The Basics of Gun Handling | Shooting Tips from Sig Sauer Academy
This is a free online hunter safety course offered by Sig Sauer Academy through YouTube. Your instructor will be teaching you a few basics to handle a gun.
Adam Painchaud, your instructor, will start by explaining what stance is, and how it is important to stand properly and focus on your target. Then, the importance of mobility, that is, you need to have a good posture for you to move with a firearm.
Further, you’ll be learning about grips, and how to have a full grip on the gun, which is very important to avoid shooting the wrong target which could be harmful or even deadly. Adam will practically show you how to hold a Sig Sauer p226 (without a bullet).
This is a free online hunter safety course that will show you how to ensure the gun fits on your hand and get your hand as high as possible. It’s as easy as a firm handshake, where you have to grip the other person strongly.
In addition, you’ll learn trigger and muzzle control. He will show you a basic simple trick to calmly (don’t overstress it) move the trigger. Adam is a very patient teacher and doesn’t want you to be overwhelmed while learning to shoot in the wild.
6. Hunter Education – Texas Park and Wildlife
This is a free online hunter safety course that has lots of videos on shooting safety, wildlife management, etc. Carter Smith first welcomes you to the program and lets you know the importance of hunter education.
You’ll also be learning home and field forearm safety, how to safely transport your shotgun, and how to make sure your shot is safe, ethical, and legal. Furthermore, you’ll learn how to clean your shotgun, some safety tips in wing shooting, how to control your muzzle, how to hunt a waterfowl, and how to field dress a deer.
There are lots of classes in this free online hunter safety course even the best way to protect your eyes and ears while shooting.
This program is best for potential hunters in Texas because you’ll learn some ways to avoid violating Texas hunting laws like not having the proper license. That doesn’t mean if you’re not from Texas you can’t participate in the course.
Free Online Hunter Safety Course – FAQs
Is there any certificate for hunting?
Yes, some of the free online hunter safety courses of certificate. NRA Hunter Education and BesafeHunter offer hunter certificates.
Must I take hunting courses before I start hunting?
You don’t need to take an online course before you can hunt. But you need someone to teach you whether physically or online before you can hunt. And not just that, you need a license to start hunting.
How much do hunters make?
An average hunter earns around $69,001